News From U-M
Winners in Mobile Apps Challenge announced
It just got easier to find parking space on campus or to harvest power from your mobile phone using applications developed by U-M students and staff. Apps that let people create digital copies of their event tickets, organize task lists, and meet people with shared interests through location-based social networking are among the winners in the 2010 Michigan Mobile Apps Challenge. The competition was sponsored by Apple Inc., Google, Information and Technology Services (ITS), Computer Science and Engineering, and the Office of Technology Transfer. "We were really impressed by the quality of apps and the expertise of applicants this year," said Holly Nielsen, director of enabling technologies and services at ITS. "Creativity and ingenuity is thriving at U-M. This competition serves as an excellent platform for showcasing it." [Read more...]
UMTRI collaborates with Toyota on new safety research center
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute is one of three charter partners of a new advanced safety research center that will help reduce the number of traffic fatalities and injuries on America's roads. The Collaborative Safety Research Center will be based at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor and will involve Toyota researchers and engineers from North America and Japan, as well as UMTRI researchers and those from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute. Toyota will commit $50 million over the next five years to fund the center. [Read more...]
Federal patent office located in Detroit will aid U-M
Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest says the announcement Thursday (Dec. 17, 2010) that the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office would open a satellite office in Detroit is a positive development for the university and the region. "The opening of a satellite office for the PTO in Detroit will have enormous benefits for the region, and of course, also for the University of Michigan," Forrest says. "The ability to do patent business at an office in Detroit will be a boon to the many educational institutions and knowledge-based industries in the larger region." [Read more...]
Road fatalities are down, despite more distracted-driving deaths
Over the past five years, road fatalities in the United States have fallen 22 percent, thanks primarily to the poor economy and the increased prevalence of air bags, according to University of Michigan researchers. "A reduction of such magnitude over such a short time has not occurred since road safety statistics were first kept starting in 1913, except for the reductions during World War II," says Michael Sivak, a research professor at the U-M Transportation Research Institute.
41 U-M spin-offs receive grants to develop new therapies
A total of 66 projects from the Ann Arbor area were awarded grants from the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Program. Of the 66, 41 involved U-M spin-offs, receiving the majority of $13 million from the program that was awarded statewide. The Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Program Grant was designed to provide tax credits and grants to small firms that show significant potential to produce new and cost-saving therapies, support U.S. jobs and increase U.S. competitiveness. [Read more...]
The Stimulus: Was it worth it?
"There is a great deal of discussion today about the value (or lack) of the federal stimulus program," writes Stephen Forrest, U-M vice president for research, in his latest blog post. "Was it wasteful, or did it really accomplish something? There was a lot of talk, too, about investing in “shovel-ready” projects, yet a piece of the investment went toward research – quite a bit of it to the University of Michigan. Let’s face it, research is anything but shovel-ready. So, this got me thinking a bit about the effects, both good an bad, about the stimulus, particularly as it relates to the University of Michigan and our state." [Read more...]
The Politics of Research
Stephen Forrest, U-M vice president for research, writes in his most recent blog post: "Nobody likes to put the words “politics” and “research” in the same sentence (as I just did). It seems to be an awkward mix of our conception of the “philistine” with the “pure”. But, like it or not, all research is political with deep social and moral dimensions. We must face that apparent contradiction and deal with it head on if we are going to be successful researchers whose ultimate goal is to deepen our knowledge of the natural world and humankind, which will ultimately make our planet a more interesting and hospitable home." [Read more...]
U-M, Women’s Sports Foundation establish research policy center
The Women’s Sports Foundation has selected U-M to establish a joint research and policy center, the Women’s Sports, Health, Activity and Research and Policy Center. The center will generate interdisciplinary research on issues related to women’s sports, health, gender issues and kinesiology. [Read more...]
UMHS statement regarding use of animals in Survival Flight training
U-M has posted a statement on the use of animals in the training of U-M Health System Survival Flight staff. The statement is in response to criticism of the training by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. UPDATE - A USDA inspector visited the University of Michigan the week of Oct. 4, 2010 in response to the PETA complaint as well as to perform a full annual inspection. The University of Michigan received no citations or deficiencies from the visit.
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CI Days in November
Cyberinfrastructure Days (CI Days) is a free, community-building conference held on Tuesday, November 2 and Wednesday, November 3, 2010 and organized by the Office of Research Cyberinfrastructure (ORCI) and Information and Technology Services (ITS). The conference is an opportunity for faculty, students, and staff from across campus to share information and ideas about advanced, integrated computation and information resources and their use in research and learning; learn from nationally renowned leaders; attend tutorials, presentations, and panels; and present your research and learn about others' research at a poster session. [Read more...]